


Everytime We Touch

by TeamHPForever



Category: The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: First Kiss, M/M, Post-Blood of Olympus, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-12
Updated: 2014-10-12
Packaged: 2018-02-20 21:30:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2443817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeamHPForever/pseuds/TeamHPForever
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I don’t like to be touched,” Nico says, unable to ignore the flash of hurt as he slides away from Will on the bench. “I don’t mean it to be personal.” </p>
<p>Will looks thoughtful as he moves closer but not enough that they’re touching again. “I respect that.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Everytime We Touch

**Author's Note:**

> I read Blood of Olympus in one frenzied reading spree on Friday and now Solangelo owns my heart.

“I don’t like to be touched,” Nico says, unable to ignore the flash of hurt as he slides away from Will on the bench. “I don’t mean it to be personal.”

Will looks thoughtful as he moves closer but not enough that they’re touching again. “I respect that.”

It takes Nico a while to catch on after that. It’s a hand on his shoulder when they’re standing in the dining hall. A touch of his arm when they’re talking. Fingers that linger a moment too long when Nico brings Will a candy bar and a grape soda during a long shift in the infirmary. The same damn tingle of electricity that he got the first time Will touched him and each time he finds that he doesn’t want to move away.

It isn’t until Will rests his hand on top of Nico’s and he doesn’t yank it away like he usually would that Nico realizes _that’s the point._

Nico doesn’t know how to feel about that. The skeletal butterflies rattle their wings in his gut when he thinks about the effort Will is taking to make things easier for him.

It’s another week before Nico realizes that they’ve stalled. Will still touches his shoulder, his arm, brushes his fingers across the back of Nico’s hand as they walk, but there’s nothing more than that. He should be glad but instead he feels a bone-deep ache that makes his skeleton feel like it’s filled with lead.

The campfire burns in front of them, bathing them all in warmth and dancing shadows. The fire is taller than Nico has ever seen it and rich shades of red and gold. Will throws his leg over the bench, straddling it and grinning brightly at Nico. His hair looks gold in the firelight. “Good, you haven’t faded off into the shadows yet.”

“ _Yet?_ ” Nico stares back at him, an eyebrow raised.

“I didn’t know if you’d be here,” Will says. “With Leo and Calypso coming home stirring things up and all.”

Nico shrugs. He’d seen Leo earlier but there wasn’t much for the two of them to say to each other once he’d figured out why Leo’s death had felt so strange before. Besides, this was where he really wanted to be. It’s a strange thought, considering not long ago he’d intended to leave behind Camp Half-Blood forever.

Coming to the campfire is especially worth it once the songs start up. Nico’s not much of a singer, but he’s more than willing to listen to Will. Son of Apollo indeed. They’ve just finished a chorus of _All Star_ for reasons unknown to Nico when Will swings off the log.

Nico doesn’t even stop to think. He reaches out, catching the boy’s hand and twining their fingers together. “The campfire isn’t over.”

“The Hephaestus cabin is starting to build a fort out of the graham crackers. Unless you don’t want any s’mores?” Will winks at him and tugs out of his grip. Nico watches him go, pushing away the faint smile etched across his face. He’s really starting to get used to smiling again.

Will grabs his hand again on the way out. His fingers are still sticky from the marshmallows, but Nico doesn’t draw away until he heads back into his cabin.

After that Nico finds himself holding hands with Will more often. They reach for other between camp activities, standing outside of the dining hall, walking to and from their cabins. It isn’t long before it seems like the most natural thing in the world.

Nico’s getting ready for another campfire—the last one of the summer—when he hears a knock on the door. He’s reminded of a more disappointing outcome when he opens the door to find Will on the other side.

The boy’s faced down fearsome monsters in both Manhattan and the Second Giant War and yet he looks…nervous. Nico can see it in his darting eyes and wringing hands.

“Can I kiss you?” Will blurts out before Nico can say anything.

“What?” Nico stares blankly back at him, convinced that he must have heard wrong. He’s thought about kissing before, but only in vague, hypothetical terms. He has enough trouble finding people who are willing to touch him without cringing.

Will steps across the threshold and into Nico’s space. He isn’t crowding. He’s just…there. Staring down at Nico with those blue eyes and that stupid grin. “You heard me, Shadow Boy.”

It’s better than _Death Boy_ so Nico wrinkles his nose and lets it go. There are more important things to worry about. “Yes.”

“Are you sure? We could probably just sit here and hold hands and watch the sun set…” Will grins down at him, his voice shakier than usual.

“Kiss me, Solace,” Nico snarls and the boy obeys, leaning down to press their lips together. It’s slow and a little bit awkward. Nico tries to do too much and Will chuckles into the kiss, but it isn’t long before they get their rhythm.

One of Will’s hands rests against Nico’s chest while the other tangles in his rough black hair. Will pulls out of the kiss and rests his forehead against Nico’s. “Is this okay?” he breathes.

“Fine,” Nico replies, though that’s as big an understatement as calling Peleus a lizard. Will smiles and Nico can feel it pressed against his mouth as he stands on his toes to kiss him again. Maybe getting close to people isn’t so bad after all.


End file.
